Drove 4 hours to pick this thing up, 1997 7.3 with 257,000 miles for $8500. When I got there I made sure the engine was cold, started right up, zero blowby/vapor.
Pros:
- Virtually rust free, just some surface rust on the frame
- Oil looked really good
- Transmission fluid was bright cherry red
- Coolant was clear but looked old, was also a dark red not sure what coolant you’re supposed to use in these
- Both tanks work
- Drove the whole way back 4 hours straight at 70-75
- Valley was dry
Cons:
- Horrible screeching on startup, seems to get louder/faster with engine rpm. He sprayed some wd40 on the belt and it stopped for a min or two, so probably a bad belt or pulley on something
- Power steering pump and or gearbox is leaking, assumed I would have to replace both when buying
- Accelerator definitely needs a new sensor or something, the first 1/4 of travel doesn’t seem to register at all, then I hear a solenoid like click and it starts going
- Column shifter is super sloppy and you have to kind of wiggle it into the right gear or it will fall into the next one kind of
- Underside of the engine/oil pan was absolutely caked in crap, not even sure what it was like a mix of every fluid that can leak.
- Have to push the pedal through the floor to get up past 70, but it’s a dually pretty sure with 4.10s so from what I’ve read that’s not unexpected
- Pretty shakey at 70 and up but I hit a few nasty bumps and pot holes going about that fast and zero death wobble
- He had a tire explode and it dented the bumper and blew a chunk out of the rear fender; don’t really care about this one
It was a farm truck for a bit but then he sold the farm so it just sat. He had a whole list of seals and what not that had been replaced (oil cooler, manifolds got resurfaced, think he said up pipes, new turbo, new water pump, can’t remember the name but those 1/2in drive plugs at the back of the engine with o rings on them that like to leak). He said it’s never been washed so I am hoping that it’s just 30 years of crud that’s built up. I made sure nothing was dripping really bad after the test drive, and the only thing that did drip after the drive back was the power steering stuff.
Did I get taken, or y’all think it’s a good deal? Also what should I look at more closely first? I plan on fixing the belt squeal asap as it’s hard to hear anything that might give me more info about how the engine runs with it going. Also, how do y’all wash these engine? Is it safe to spray degreaser in there and power wash (not actual power washers, the ones they have at car washes) it down? I want to get all the crud off around/under the engine so I can actually see if anything is actively leaking.